WARNING!These are not spoilers, they are Lori's opinions. Furthermore, she is entitled to have an opinion and if you disagree with her that is fine, just don't send hate mail about it. If you feel like you're someone who is easily angered by others opinions, simply do not read this page! For the most part, this is all in fun!

May 2, 2008
First I have to say how thrilled I am that Days wasn't left out of the Emmys again this year. After a four-year drought, it was nice to see four actors from the show being nominated, especially considering how CBS dominates again this year. What is it with that network? I think they have amazing actors, but the other networks do too! All three ABC shows only received one acting nomination each (!), while CBS has three from one show in a certain category and not one of them deserves it over an actor from ABC (in my opinion). If you follow CBS and saw the nominations you know who I mean. At least Days did well, but I was surprised to see Thaao Penghlis (Tony) receiving a Lead Actor nomination and Judi Evans (Bonnie/Adrienne) getting a nod as well. But no matter who got nominated, at least Days is in the race this year.

So happy that Joe Penny make his debut as Ava's father. He already seems believable and at ease in the role and I think he'll bring an interesting element to the show. It's certainly time Salem had a new bad guy, because you can only blame the DiMeras for so much. And the Kate connection is an intriguing twist. I can see where they could have some good chemistry.

While I'm happy to see Mr. Vitali enter the scene, I'm even happier that Ava's craziness is fading. Of course with the reveal that she's been drugged, nothing she did will be her fault, which is kind of a cop out, but Tamara Braun is a good actress and I think she'll be far more interesting as a sane person. But really, Kayla is her doctor? The woman whose husband Ava has been trying to steal and whose father Ava inadvertently killed? Yeah, no conflict of interest there.

I still can't get behind Dr. Jonas and Chelsea. He's too old for her and his character just doesn't work for me. I did however think Stephanie and Max were sweet this week and even though they're technically related, I am looking forward to seeing what's in store for them. But if I were Stephanie, I certainly would not have left my warm bed where a hot Max was curled up next to me telling me how fabulous I was to yell at my friend's doctor for taking himself off her case! I'd wait for another time to pretend Dr. Jonas was a frat boy who stood Chelsea up instead of an adult doctor.

The comedy continued this week and I truly enjoy John more every day. His interactions with almost everyone are humorous, especially Rolf. It also looks like he started to remember his life as Roman Brady and he now has the disk, but I hope that doesn't mean he'll revert to his old self. Sami and EJ were also fun to watch when they were discussing how well they know each other to prove to the INS that they are a true married couple. Those scenes were sweet, fun and sharply written. The actors have great chemistry and I'm rooting for them to prevail when Lucas returns from jail.

The reveal that Victor was behind Brady's disappearance and set Chloe up was a great twist, but how will they keep Brady away from Salem once he's clean and sober? Since his original portrayer Kyle Lowder is on another soap, will they eventually recast or leave his character off canvas? I'd like to see Chloe forge a new relationship, although not with Philip as I like him with Morgan. But I definitely want to see more of Chloe and Nicole! I thought the scene of Nicole filling Chloe in on Victor was wonderfully done, as the women were catty, but they also showed glimpses of humor and civility.

To me, there's nothing better than well-played humor on a soap.

April 19, 2008
Nicole said it best this week when she remarked, "The new John is more interesting." He was just always so good before. Even through all his various incarnations, John has always been at his core the beacon of goodness. With this John, we aren't really sure where he's coming from or what his motives are. Shades of grey are always more intriguing than absolute goodness or absolute evil and to me, that's what makes this latest version of John the best one yet.

That's also why I'm loving Philip right now. When he was married to Belle, he was too good. When he tried to steal Claire from Shawn and Belle he was too evil. There was no real personality. Now, he's just right - flirtatious with Morgan, hardnosed with John and sort of protective of Chloe. He's not all one thing and that makes me want to find out what's really going on. Speaking of Morgan, I'm liking their dynamic. Their banter on Friday was fun and she didn't take any of his crap. I'm looking forward to seeing more of these two.

I also can't wait to learn more about Morgan and her father. Again, Linden Ashby's Paul has shades of grey. He's done illegal things and is playing hardball with John and Philip, but he's sweet with his daughter, so we can see he's not a total bad guy. I wasn't sure about the character of Morgan during the sorority stories, but Kristen Renton is proving to be quite a good actress and is making me care about what's up with Morgan and her parents.

While I'm on the subject of ambiguous moral character, I really hope they don't totally reform EJ. The appeal of his character is that he's got edge. Yes, raping Sami was going too far and they needed to make him likeable again, but hopefully they won't go overboard. When James Scott was on All My Children he played Ethan, who was a good guy to the extreme and he was boooring! When he came to Days, he had so much more spark and electricity as the enigmatic EJ and I truly hope they don't ruin that.

I was so glad Bo and Kayla got out of the hospital, even if they just ended up stuck at Ava's compound. I enjoyed watching this brother and sister team up together and use their mom as a getaway driver. So many soaps tend to forget people are related that it was nice to see some familial bonding, but it would have been even nicer if Roman joined them, making it a Brady triple threat.

That's all the good stuff: The bad for me this week was Ava's reveal of how she ended up crazy. So Patch left her at the altar... get over it! How many times has Sami been left standing there without a groom? Ok, so maybe Sami did turn into Stan, but she was never completely off her rocker. I could buy the fact that Patch dumping her sent her to the loony bin, but she ended up killing Grandpa Shawn, kidnapping Hope and now wants everyone dead, just because Patch broke her heart. Not only don't I buy it, but I feel let down after all that build up. Here's hoping there's more to the story.

April 11, 2008
Despite Marlena's best efforts this week, including hypnosis, it seems the new John is here to stay. I for one couldn't be happier. John's new stoic personality suits Drake Hogestyn's acting style much better and... he's funny! I hope old John never resurfaces and Marlena finds a way to fall in love with this new version of her husband, which is where they seem to be headed. I think this has been a great way to put the spark back in this couple, who had quite honestly become boring and were on the back burner for some time.

As for another couple, it looks like Chelsea and Nick are in for another break up courtesy of Dr. Jonas. I'm not sure how I feel about his character, as I think they're trying too hard to make him seem hip. He drinks energy drinks instead of coffee! He surfs! He drives the most cutting edge hybrid! We get it, he's a doctor and he's cool. However, what I really take issue with is he's one more reason to not to get invested in Chelsea and Nick. The writers have never really been behind their coupling, despite the potential they possess. The nerdy science geek and the reformed bad girl are a classic example of opposites attracting, and the actors have great chemistry. But between Nick sleeping with Chelsea's mom, Chelsea's attraction to Jett and newest potential hurtle Dr. Jonas, I don't feel like Chelsea and Nick have been given room to be a real couple we can root for.

Aside from bringing on Shawn Christian to play Dr. Jonas, the show has recently hired several other name actors, such as Tamara Braun (Ava), Linden Ashby (Paul), Kevin Dobson (Mickey) and now Joe Penny, who I think will do a wonderful job as Ava's controlling mobster father. Even if the hiring of all these recognizable faces is just the-powers-that-be's desperate attempt to draw in viewers, they've certainly done a great job of bringing quality actors to the show. I just hope they use them wisely. Tamara obviously has a lot to work with, although Ava's starting to become one note. I hope her headaches and blocked memories lead to something interesting and add more layers to her. Linden seems to be picking up steam as Paul with talk about his divorce, problems with the law and his relationship with his daughter Morgan, so he could be worthwhile. However, Kevin's Mickey isn't exactly worthy of this veteran actor so far. I'm hoping they give him more to do than just walk around Chez Rouge butting into E.J. and Sami's business.

Speaking of bringing name people to the show, Arianne Zucker returned as Nicole. I'm not sold on her return just yet, but I am enjoying the friction between her and Sami. It's nice to see the fight back in Sami after months of her crying and actually being the good girl. I'm glad they've matured Sami's character and have made her more likeable and less conniving, but Sami was starting to lose her edge. It seems to be coming back though, and with Nicole zeroing in on E.J., the claws should hopefully stay out for some time!

April 4, 2008
I'll chime in next week. In the meantime, check out Matt's Musing for this week and my Last Word on Passions!

All photographs are courtesy of Soapoperafan.com.